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PI
Ryan Folk |
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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5333-9273
I am an assistant professor at the Department of Biological Sciences at Mississippi State University. I am also the curator of the herbarium MISSA.
I work on plant biodiversity from evolutionary and ecological perspectives and have a special interest in bioinformatics approaches that use herbarium specimens and other biocollections data. Hobbies! Illustrations! Bionomia profile.
My full CV may be found here.
I work on plant biodiversity from evolutionary and ecological perspectives and have a special interest in bioinformatics approaches that use herbarium specimens and other biocollections data. Hobbies! Illustrations! Bionomia profile.
My full CV may be found here.
Postdocs
Carolina Siniscalchi
Carol comes to us from the Mandel lab at the University of Memphis, having previously done undergrad, masters, and PhD degrees at the Universidade de São Paulo. She is an expert in composite and legume systematics as well as plant phylogenomics.
She is working with us to understand the origins and ecology of nitrogen-fixing symbioses with bioinformatics approaches.
For more information see her scholar page and her personal website.
She is working with us to understand the origins and ecology of nitrogen-fixing symbioses with bioinformatics approaches.
For more information see her scholar page and her personal website.
Graduate Students
Nicholas Engle-Wrye
Nick is interested in plant systematics, functional biogeography, and phenomics.
For his PhD, he is investigating the role of conserved floral scent as a driver of hybridization in Heuchera and species delimitation of the Heuchera americana complex using integrative taxonomic approaches. Dexcem Pantinople
Dexcem has just joined us! He is working on phylogeography and species delimitation in the Heuchera parviflora complex.
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Sushil Dahal
Sushil started working with us in 2021 as an undergraduate REU researcher, and started as a Biological Sciences PhD student in Fall 2021.
He is working on wetlab methods and currently focusing on biogeographic problems in Symphyotrichum. ???This could be you! We are searching for graduate students and recruiting now for Fall 2023! Contact me about opportunities and projects!
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Undergraduate Students
Stephanie Dauber
Stephanie has been working in the lab and herbarium since Fall 2019 on a number of projects in the lab related to our REU program, including phylogenomics, microbiome work, and trait scoring on herbarium specimens. She is also one of our best plant mounters and repairers! We miss her as she is off for a bit on a professional co-op experience!
Sofia Nail
Sofia started with us in late spring 2021 and is learning molecular techniques as part of our REU program as well as plant morphometrics.
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Tajinder Singh
TJ just started with us in Fall 2021 on our REU program. He is working on specimen-based methods and molecular methods.
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This could also be you! We have many opportunities in the lab for motivated undergraduates who need research experience in the life sciences, including REU positions funded by the National Science Foundation!
Alumni
Matt MattoxMatt worked in the lab with us from Fall 2019 to Fall 2020 as an REU student and helped us build tons of libraries and extract DNA. He's an expert at the magnet! He has finished his undergraduate degree and has moved on to a job at Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Peyton Dunn
Peyton worked with us from Spring 2020 to Spring 2021 as an REU student. He mostly worked on a number of remote projects focused on scoring herbarium sheets for color and phenology scoring. He has moved on to a co-op experience as he completes his undergraduate degree.
Kelli Broussard
Kelli joined the lab and herbarium over summer 2020 through summer 2021 as an REU student. She focused on a new phenology project we have going and our microbiome projects. She is off to med school at LSU.
Reagan Conner
Reagan was one of our longest-term students, working with us from the end of summer 2020 to the same of 2022. She mainly worked on microbiome projects to understand plant endophyte diversity as part of our REU program. She is off to graduate school at the University of Arizona.
Sydney Beachler
Sydney worked in the herbarium from Fall 2021 to Summer 2022 on restoring specimens and mounting.
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Paige Marrota
Paige worked with us in the winter and spring of 2021 as an REU student, focusing mainly on DNA techniques and has moved on to a medical lab tech job.
Briana Johnston
Briana started in late 2020 as an REU student and focused on herbarium and wetlab methods through to summer 2021. She is off to graduate school at the University of Arkansas.
Zoe Fowler
Zoe worked in the lab at the over summer 2021 to learn molecular techniques in our REU program. She is off to graduate school at Georgia Tech.
Tyrikus Hayes
Tyrikus worked with us Spring to Summer of 2022. He worked on a variety of molecular projects in the lab. He is off to med school at the University of Mississippi.
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Photo: Boykinia aconitifolia